Marking Tools And Their Importance For Professional Woodworking

Professional woodworking in general is a profession that requires a lot of talent and dedication in order to achieve the desired results, for this reason when we are doing craftsmen’s projects or a complex DIY furniture homework we need tools that are efficient, easy to use and very accurate. Craft woodworking has existed for thousands of years and it has continuously evolved and with it the tools used have improved as well.

The most important tools in one way are the marking tools such as scribers, pencils and marking knives. Each of these tools has a specific role to play during the marking process.

Let us start with the most obvious one: the pencil. Pencils are a basic need when it comes to professional woodworking. As you could already guess you use them to mark the wood, but we can’t just use any type of pencil in any kind of wood. We must know what sort of pencil to use in a specific wood or in a specific colour of wood in order to get a better result.

Then we can continue to the second tool, which also has a great importance, I’m talking about the scriber. Most of us have used a scriber before, but not for this reason maybe. It is like a blade that doesn’t have an edge. The scriber is very useful for plenty reasons, when we work along the grain of the wood. It also is more accurate than a pencil and leaves a line that is clearer and a lot thinner if it is sharpened in a proper manner.

Marking knives are also a must have in woodworking. Marking knives can make a very accurate and precise line consistently. You can also add to it the fact that they can physically mark the wood and split it to a certain extent through the grain of the wood. These knives aren’t your random knives since they are only bevelled on one side; the other side of the knife is flat. You need to hold the flat side against a reference edge so that you can make the desired mark as you guide across the wood.

There are different kinds of marking knives. The most common used one is the “right-handed” marking knife because you need to hold it with your right hand and your left hand will have to hold the reference. Depending on what you need, you can also use the chip carving knife which is used on many occasions as well.